If it's an uncontrolled intersection, and I'm out there insisting on my "rights" as vehicular traffic, why should I expect autos to stop for me when they wouldn't stop for another vehicle?
If traffic is steady enough and the road is wide enough to be dangerous, I would wait for a gap in traffic even if I were a pedestrian.
I sympathize with the bicyclist who stops for a light or sign and then watches autos stop for him. This often happens to me, causing me to wonder why I stopped in the first place. But look at the driver's POV: he never knows what those crazy cyclists are going to do, and it's better to be safe than sorry.
Of course I live in Portland, OR, where most drivers are friendly and courteous, if not afraid they'll be arrested for not honoring the rights of cyclists and uncertain about what the laws really are.
It may be different in other cities (evidently it is, from what I read) but by and large in my town, people generally treat me about they way I treat them: drive defensively, try to assess what's coming up, and be courteous and understanding.
Or so it seems to me.